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 What can we learn from Haiti? 
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 What can we learn from Haiti?
I'm not trying to be ghoulish here - I'm just trying to write some of my thoughts about the deficiencies in my preps.

The quotes below are from this CNN story:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.victims/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Quote:
The missionaries and the children put down sheets and towels in the dirt Tuesday night, but no one slept well


We slept outside on cots after Ike for, thankfully, only one night - did not sleep well. One cot has now broken - need to revisit this.

Do we have adequate tarps, tents, cots, etc. in case we need to sleep outside again? What about cold weather?

Quote:
Stuart's cell phone isn't working, so he has to update family and friends through the Internet.


We had the same cell phone issue after Tropical Storm Allison but not Hurricane Ike.

The Internet was out for nearly 10 days after Ike because cable was down.

We now have On Star in the new vehicle - so that may be an alternative communication device. Hmmmm

Quote:
Sleeping is difficult. Everyone is exhausted. And they want to know why it happened to them.


All I can do here is agree with the statements. I don't know that you can ever really be prepared for the emotional aftermath of a disaster but you need to think about it now - especially those of you with children. Do you have something tucked away to "calm" or "soothe" yourself and/or your young children?

Understand that you will be in shock for a long while - some longer than others. Your children will also be in shock and will be looking to you for how to react to their new world.

My husband's great nephew is STILL terrified of "traffic" after the Hurricane Rita evacuation fiasco. He was 4 years old at the time and still remembers it to this day. He and his brother ate NOTHING for 48 hours. Not one bite. Tomato soup with goldfish did the trick at my house. :mrgreen:

Quote:
Suddenly, debris blocked the road, and he got a sense of the devastation when he started walking.


Do you have shoes in your vehicle that are appropriate to walk long distances, if necessary? After 9/11 many of us where I work no longer wear high heels to work - we wear flat shoes. I also carry tennis shoes in my commuter bag, just in case.

Quote:
People in the streets were dusty from the concrete and bloody from their injuries.


Do you have adequate first aid supplies? Have you used them over the past year for minor cuts, bruises and not replaced items? Do you have pain medication tucked away?

Do you have a first aid kit in your car? In your desk/cubicle at work?

Quote:
"The only way we can go to Port-au-Prince is by car or by motorbike, but when you reach Port-au-Prince, you have to leave it because the streets are really impassable."


Do you have alternative transportation, i.e., bike, motorbike? What about gasoline? Do you know small, out of the way places to access gasoline in case of a power failure?

There have been some minor reports of looting. Do you consider people who take food and water from damaged stores looters?

Lastly, as you can see from the response, are you prepared to be on your own for a full 72 hours (at least?). Flights are now being delayed into Haiti because there is no jet fuel at the airport in Port au Prince and there is no room at the jetways.

Anybody else?

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Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:30 am
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Thanks for starting this thread, BB. I am overwhelmed by contemplating the total devastation in Haiti, particularly in Port-au-Prince. The bodies lying in the streets; those who are now alive but who cannot be rescued because of the lack of equipment, the injuries that cannot be tended because there are almost no doctors, one hospital flattened - these and other disastrous consequences can play out here as well. (Here being wherever you live.)

I have several times tried to start a discussion on what you would do if a member of your family or survival community died and there were none of the "normal" means in place for burying anybody. We have discussed the dangers of going to a hospital in the grip of a lethal pandemic, and the futility of trying to get medical help in an institution which would almost immediately be overwhelmed. Ditto with medical aid in a natural disaster or an attack of some sort.

SO, do you have land to bury somebody? Digging tools? Heavy largest black trash bags for body bags? If you don't have land, is there somewhere near you where you could bring a body to bury? Think about it now. (I remember somebody mentioning lime - is that a good idea? anybody know?)

As BB said, have an updated, totally filled first aid kit, and I recommend that you get as much as you can in the way of medical necessaries: OTC painkillers, flu meds, antibiotic ointments, etc. Lots of good lists on that. My reasoning is that stores will be sold out or looted almost immediately. Heaven only knows when we will be able to get our hands on anything for a long time, so get what you need now, before the mad rush.

One lesson: don't panic or follow a stampeding crowd. It appears that last nights panic was started by some who wanted to steal the belongings of those who were fleeing.

Watching the news in Haiti really brings home to me just HOW horrific things can get - and it can happen here. Primary: prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, and above all spiritually to face whatever may happen. We may find ourselves in a Haiti in our own locales. We must try not to panic, yet not to allow ourselves to become semi-comatose from shock. That's why I try to go over as many different possibilities as I can in my mind, and figure out what I would do in multiple situations, so that hopefully I will have an idea what to do, how to react, when the real situation faces me.

I recommend reading the post that recall made about different worst-case scenarios. Scary as anything, but it gives us a chance to face what might happen in a societal breakdown.

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Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:09 pm
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
BB just a note OnStar works on the cell network as well so if your cell is out, so too is OnStar ;)

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Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:48 am
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Quote:
BB just a note OnStar works on the cell network as well so if your cell is out, so too is OnStar


:gah

Smoke signals, anyone?

Hmmm I need to seriously rethink this. We had this issue for a short while with Ike but the cell phones never really went down like in Allison.

In Tropical Storm Allison the cell phone tower generators went under water and, thus, were fried. I would imagine the same scenario would happen in an earthquake, tornado, flood situation as well.

I just HATE the thought of paying for a land line! We gave it up originally because nobody, and I mean nobody, ever called us on it. Everyone calls us on the cell - well, texts mostly now.

:hmm

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Sat Jan 16, 2010 8:09 am
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Quote:
As BB said, have an updated, totally filled first aid kit, and I recommend that you get as much as you can in the way of medical necessaries: OTC painkillers, flu meds, antibiotic ointments, etc.


:clap Rutsie

As East Texas said on the first day - those folks with injuries - even minor injuries are screwed. Why? In a hot, humid, tropical environment, the very last thing you want or need is an open wound of any kind. Add to that the dust in the atmosphere, and you are ripe for infection - serious infection. By the time you receive medical care, the wound will be seriously infected.

Antiobiotic ointment is a wonderful thing. Neosporin and, as recommended by my Dermatologist, polysporin should definitely be in your first aid kit.

Another item you must have are alcohol swabs. In the States they come in a big box for not much money.

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Sat Jan 16, 2010 8:14 am
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
BB, if you want a land line and don't want to pay monthly get Magic Jack. (I have no financial interest in or ties to this company, etc. etc.) I gave up my land line through a company and installed MJ. It works through your computer though, so depends on THAT being online - six of one? I'm not sure, but I'm not getting a regular land line again.

For alcohol swabs, would alcohol and gauze pads work? Also good - hydrogen peroxide, and most mouthwashes have enough alcohol to be used to disinfect.

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Sat Jan 16, 2010 11:49 am
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
The response to the EQ in Haiti shows the place that technology is assuming in all aspects of our life. People are reconnecting through the internet, others trapped in the rubble are texting their plight and location. Some have been found that way. Contributions are being made by texting, which has included young people in great numbers to the bank of donors. CNN's ireports are linking family and friends through posts and pictures.

Now comes the caveat. Since the internet and cell phones are so useful in a major disaster, expect them to be rendered unusable in a planned event.

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Sat Jan 16, 2010 11:54 am
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Something that struck me was a shot of some people who were living in an old school bus. I mean, that seemed to be their actual home, so obviously, they weren't in nearly the trouble as ppl with conventional housing. BB, didn't you live in your camper for a while after the hurricane? I know a load of Shelter Boxes has also found their way to Haiti.

Army Son advised me NOT to store emergency equip (tents, blankets, etc) in the house but a small storage shed instead. His thinking is that if something happens, it would be easier to pull boards off a small shed than the house. And since there's no electricity, it wouldn't be as likely to catch fire. I already keep some stuff in the trunk of the car.

My house is wood frame built over a half basement. The plate rests on a concrete block wall that has a pretty deep foundation. If most single dwelling US homes are not built using shoddy construction materials and techniques (like no rebar in concrete buildings in Haiti), would it be safe to assume they wouldn't pancake like what we're seeing now?

Think I'll throw a bone to the local tv station. They can talk to Virginia Tech when school starts up next week.


Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:51 pm
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Watch TV coverage of the earthquake, read news reports on what is happening, follow it on Twitter. What is happening in Haiti today could happen here tomorrow. Do you think that could never happen to me - I live in a civilized, modern, etc. etc. country? Think again. A worst-case scenario in any country could be much worse than what is happening in Haiti - and that is bad enough! Take this as a warning. What would you do if you were caught in this EQ? Would you be prepared? Would you leave the area? Would you have food supplies? What good would they do if they are crushed under tons of concrete? Would you try to help others, or take off on your own>? Think it through now, while you have the time. There will not be much thinking once a disaster strikes. You need to make your decisions now so they will be second nature when TSHTF.

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Sat Jan 16, 2010 5:01 pm
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
The triangle of life.

I’m sure some very astute soul has posted this link http://www.amerrescue.org/triangleoflife.htm elsewhere on these boards, but since the topic du jour is earthquake survival (or WTSHTF Big Time) the information on this site is very, very much worth reviewing. In short: traditional “duck and cover” defenses can get you killed. The only truly safe chance-in-hell in an EQ is to know where, exactly, there might remain a pocket of air as the building you’re in collapses/pancakes on top of you and dive for that spot.

This site contains very, very good professional advice from a top search-and-rescue trainer. Pay attention, and teach your children. (You don’t need to buy the DVD, the essentials are on the website.)

And, yes, Haiti’s tragedy is certainly sobering. Beyond first aid – and we should all have a good stock of Polysporin/Neosporin topical antibiotic, and Betadine for cleaning wounds – and a good first aid course from your local Red Cross or St. John’s Ambulance or whatever – we do need to learn how the “make people comfortable” as they depart when serious medical aid cannot be not forthcoming – and it won’t be ....

And, as much as I love my home, I have purchased an all-weather tent, etc. on Ebay for stashing. Shelter is fundamental. Jane B, your son’s advice is very sound....

Jane B wrote:
Army Son advised me NOT to store emergency equip (tents, blankets, etc) in the house but a small storage shed instead. His thinking is that if something happens, it would be easier to pull boards off a small shed than the house. And since there's no electricity, it wouldn't be as likely to catch fire. I already keep some stuff in the trunk of the car


Must explore my options in a small city garden.....

And Rutsuyasun, you commented:

Rutsuyasun wrote:
Would you try to help others, or take off on your own? Think it through now, while you have the time. There will not be much thinking once a disaster strikes. You need to make your decisions now so they will be second nature when TSHTF


Exactly. And we each need to start living and doing those decisions NOW. In small ways, as the opportunities present themselves. Help that older person with their groceries? Soothe the harried young mom? Say a kind word? Smile at the clerk? You’d be surprised at how much impact these small actions can have on your own life, and your attitudes. And if you truly believe in helping others, those opportunities will appear to teach you now, to give you useful experience now. Yes, by all means: make yourself useful now. Help now. Each of us needs the practice, every day. Serving others is like a muscle: It gets stronger with use.

Cheers,

Selene


Sat Jan 16, 2010 6:12 pm
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Selene - thanks for your thoughtful post. You are so right about "random acts of kindness" in our lives now - not in some post-apocalypse future. :heart

Great info, too!

jane - no we never did get the pop-up out of the garage. East Texas felt like it made us too much of a target because we would have to set it up in the middle of the street - sloping driveway. Now it is gone so tents, etc. seems to be the way to go for us as well.

BTW - tarps were very useful after Ike. We were 4 days without a generator so the house was too hot to be in for long. Imagine what that would have been like in typical hurricane weather - we were lucky to get our first cool front through on the Monday after Ike. We used the tarps in the backyard for additional shade and to shade the porch (our Noah's ark) from the afternoon sun.

Once we found a generator (again, look in unusual places - we found ours at an equipment rental place!) we could run a fan in the house.

Yes, we looked like the "Grapes of Wrath" after the storm - stuff everywhere but, hey, our neighbors didn't look much better, either! ;)

Excellent advice from your son! I will place this equipment in our potting shed - need to make some room but it won't take up much space. :clap

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Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:03 am
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
it's been almost a week now, hasn't it? and what has struck me both during katrina and this, is that help will be very slow coming. very slow. before 1 week is up, ppl will be loosing it, and security will be issue #1 from that point on. life and death depends on it.

3 weeks of water, food, and tents/bags, and a weapon/ammo is the very minimum of what to have on hand, imo. anything over that is helpful, but ya have to have the min.!

also, don't know if ya's know this. but,....hydrogen peroxide can be used initially. do not however, repeat using it. repeat use kills cells. and you want all the little cells ya can muster, so's they can multiply and make your scab,etc. and yes, ruts...you can use alcohol with sterile bangages. i have a small stack of cheap white cotton washcloths for that purpose. you can wash them with detergent and bleach to sterilze and re-use. and my i suggest you don't over purchase your antibiotic ointments. as they do expire within a couple years or so of purchase.

i have to say that i did indeed see rebar sticking out of at least one concrete building pile. it's hard to say exactly what you'd have to do to keep anything from collapsing in a 7.0, but rebar isn't gonna save ya.

and where the heck is spell check? dont' we get a spell check here? lol


Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:04 pm
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Genesis wrote:
it's been almost a week now, hasn't it? and what has struck me both during katrina and this, is that help will be very slow coming. very slow. before 1 week is up, ppl will be loosing it, and security will be issue #1 from that point on. life and death depends on it.

3 weeks of water, food, and tents/bags, and a weapon/ammo is the very minimum of what to have on hand, imo. anything over that is helpful, but ya have to have the min.!

also, don't know if ya's know this. but,....hydrogen peroxide can be used initially. do not however, repeat using it. repeat use kills cells. and you want all the little cells ya can muster, so's they can multiply and make your scab,etc. and yes, ruts...you can use alcohol with sterile bangages. i have a small stack of cheap white cotton washcloths for that purpose. you can wash them with detergent and bleach to sterilze and re-use. and my i suggest you don't over purchase your antibiotic ointments. as they do expire within a couple years or so of purchase.

i have to say that i did indeed see rebar sticking out of at least one concrete building pile. it's hard to say exactly what you'd have to do to keep anything from collapsing in a 7.0, but rebar isn't gonna save ya.

and where the heck is spell check? dont' we get a spell check here? lol


Thanks for the info on Peroxide Gen...

As for Spellcheck sorry it is NOT available but it is something that a few of us Admin's have requested in the next update ;)

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Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:21 pm
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Quote:
it's been almost a week now, hasn't it? and what has struck me both during katrina and this, is that help will be very slow coming. very slow. before 1 week is up, ppl will be loosing it, and security will be issue #1 from that point on. life and death depends on it.


You are absolutely, positively correct. The only reason FEMA opened the feeding stations as quickly as they did in Houston was because our Mayor and County Commissioners publicly humiliated them into doing it. :doh

They were dragging their feet something fierce and Mayor White got on TV and put an end to the foot dragging by reminding them that they (FEMA) had publicly told us they were ready, willing and able and there would never be another Katrina response. Yeah right! :roll

When DS arrived on Tuesday after Ike - he brought with him the best news of all - tractor trailer trucks were coming into Houston one after another in solid convoys from San Antonio and points west. The same was true from the North. Those trucks contained water, ice, and MREs. Thousands of people were fed quickly once FEMA decided to put boots on the ground. Remember that we had not been able to go to the store since at least the Wednesday - most stores were completely out of food by Wednesday afternoon/evening due to the approaching storm. What will you do if you don't have notice to go to the store - like in an earthquake, flood, tornado?

But folks you are on your own immediately after a disaster of any type. You are on your own for days. Your family's well being is in your hands.

The time to prepare is now - not some magical time in the future when you can "afford" to prepare.

Tuna, peanut butter, crackers, fruit and fruit juice are not expensive. Bottled water is cheap, too, buy it in the gallon sizes and put it up.

Just add a can to each week's shopping list - you won't notice the difference. Or buy it when it goes on sale 10 for $10 or go to Sam's or Costco and buy a case of what you will eat.

Vienna sausages are cheap, too, as is Spam and dried beans, pasta, etc. The only problem with dried beans and pasta is water and a cooking source. Soup is also incredibly cheap.

You're not trying to prepare gourmet meals for your family in the midst of a disaster. You are only trying to put something in their stomachs so they can deal with what you/they have to deal with.

Thanks, Gen, for the tip on the hydrogen peroxide. Another reason to add alcohol swabs to your first aid kit.

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Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:18 am
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Post Re: What can we learn from Haiti?
Imagining a Haitian-scale disaster in the U.S.
Readers don’t get why Haiti relief effort is going so slowly
By John W. Schoen
Senior producer
updated 6:43 a.m. CT, Tues., Jan. 19, 2010

As the people of Haiti grow more desperate, it’s difficult to understand why the outpouring of aid — from individuals, relief agencies, corporations and governments around the world — is apparently working so slowly.

We seem to have supplies, food, water, personnel and such on the ground. So why it is that no one appears to be in charge?
- James H.

Where is the Red Cross? I have heard about all the money that has been contributed by Americans but I have yet to see any Red Cross help from news crews who haven't seemed to have any trouble getting in.
- Mark R.

The chaos in Haiti has been described by those on the ground as “unimaginable.” But let’s try to imagine what the equivalent devastation might look like in the U.S.

Here’s (roughly) what our country might be dealing in the first week of an equivalent scale of destruction:

The White House and the Capitol have been destroyed. Congress and critical government agencies overseeing finance, health and other domestic services have been critically impaired. Many of the government employees who used to work in those offices are dead.

There is no Pentagon (because there is no Haitian military).

With the risk of aftershocks and doubts about the safety of government buildings still standing, President Barack Obama holds his cabinet meeting outside in a circle of white plastic chairs.

There is no “situation room” set up to coordinate the government’s response. There is no FEMA. The well-financed network of local “first responders” that Americans take for granted is gone. There is no well-supplied National Guard to call up. (Haiti’s limited first response infrastructure was heavily damaged by the quake; many of its trained professionals were killed.)

The U.S. Interstate highway system has been destroyed (there never was one in Haiti), and travel by road is arduous.

The entire air traffic control system has been destroyed. Days after the disaster, it has been replaced by a small makeshift system that includes handheld radios. There is one functioning runway in the entire country at a facility about the size of a small regional U.S. airport. (Before the quake, Haiti’s airport handled about three flights a day. Since the quake, that’s up to 90 flights a day. But cargo planes filled with relief supplies circle for hours waiting their turn.)

The infrastructure to handle marine cargo has been destroyed at the major seaports — New York, Los Angeles, Houston. The only port left operable to serve the entire country is in Charleston, S.C., and it’s not set up to handle large volumes of cargo.

Police and foreign troops are trying to maintain order on the streets, but looting and fires have broken out. The FBI building (in Haiti's case, the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission) has been destroyed, and hundreds of people, including the man in charge, have been killed.

As much as one third of the population (in the U.S., roughly 100 million people) are without food, water or shelter and limited means of acquiring it.

The death toll can only be guessed. In a country of 9 million, the loss of 100,000 souls in a single disaster is a little more than 1 percent of the Haitian population, or the equivalent of 3.3 million Americans.

Millions of survivors are in need of urgent medical attention; many simply won’t receive it — even if relief efforts proceed flawlessly. Most local hospitals have been destroyed. The ones that remain have no supplies. Doctors have resorted to using hacksaws and vodka in place of surgical instruments and alcohol.

You probably don't have a savings account or credit card to tap to go live in a hotel for awhile — even if there were enough hotels left standing to get a room. You might try to stay with friends or relatives in the countryside (where, in Haiti, most people live on less than $2 a day). Or you might decide to flee across the border to Canada or Mexico, but you’ll likely be turned back. If you do make it out, you’ll need to find a friend or relative to take you in. You’ll also have to figure out how to get there.

You are powerless to help your friends and family. Even though the world has responded to the horror by sending money, equipment, trained rescue and medical teams, there are massive logistical bottlenecks preventing people and cargo — food, water and medical supplies — from getting to those in need.

As a result, many relief workers and their supplies have to fly into Canada or Mexico, and then try to find a truck and drive across country — dodging impassable roads and bridges. They also need to bring their own fuel. Most gas stations across the country are out of gas; many of those with remaining supplies have no power to pump it out of the ground. (And they can’t go to Home Depot and buy a generator.)

Foreign troops have arrived to help, but they are coordinating their efforts with dozens of other governments. There is no global “command center” to help things run smoothly.

If you're lucky, your house wasn't destroyed — but it may be in danger of collapsing. So you're probably huddled with friends and relatives in a makeshift “tent” city with little more than a blanket to shield you from the sun and rain.

If you’re lucky enough to get food, water or medical attention, it will likely be from one of the rescue or relief workers who just arrived from dozens of countries from around the world. These workers are also trying to cope with the chaos. They probably haven’t slept for days. Like you, they have limited access to information about what’s going on.

You may or may not be able to use your cell phone — though that will probably be one of the first services restored. When it is, expect it to be overwhelmed again by millions of people from outside the country trying to find out if their loved ones are dead or alive. Because many of those lost have been buried in mass graves, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers may never know how their loved ones perished. (A few may learn the horrific details by seeing a photograph or video clip of an identifiable body on a foreign news report).

With all of the money, people and supplies flooding in, you might expect the chaos to subside in a matter of weeks or months as things begin getting “back to normal.” That’s not going to happen in Haiti. For one thing, “normal” before the quake was a country just beginning to try to emerge from decades of dysfunctional government and abject poverty.

The greatest risk to Haiti’s long-term survival (if not revival) is that the world’s 24-hour news cycle turns its attention to the next disaster, and the opportunity is lost to rebuild Haiti as a viable state. In a wealthy, industrialized nation like the U.S., it’s hard to imagine the world turning its back after a disaster of such epic proportions. (Though readers in New Orleans might take issue with that statement.)

The past week’s outpouring of money and aid is a good start. But rebuilding Haiti will take years. Once the dead are buried, the wounded attended to and food and water supplies restored, the real work will begin. That will be the truest test of the world’s response to this horrific disaster. :heart

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34923036/ns/business-answer_desk/

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Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:43 am
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